The Disney World oversight board installed by Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis (R) accused its predecessor of using an 11th-hour agreement to sharply curtail the new board’s powers and bolster the entertainment giant’s control over the Florida-based amusement park.
The agreement forbids the new board from using Disney’s brand name or any of its trademarks, specifically citing “fanciful characters such as Mickey Mouse.” It also gives the company the right to prior review and comment when the board changes building exteriors, among other strictures.
Through a spokesperson, DeSantis said the governor-appointed board had contracted law firms to challenge the agreement, and suggested certain “legal infirmities” could render it void.
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In apparent retaliation for the critique, DeSantis replaced the previous Disney-friendly oversight board known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District with a new board, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, made up entirely of his own appointees, including religious and conservative activists. The board is responsible for approving infrastructure projects, as well as maintaining more mundane aspects of the park, such as trash collection and management of sewer systems. Disney would have been to some degree beholden to DeSantis’s board for its sign-off on major projects, in theory allowing it to hold sway over the company.
The new board, much to its chagrin, apparently discovered the agreement only recently.
“I’m surprised that they didn’t tell us about it as soon as we were appointed,” one of the board members, Brian Aungst Jr., told local station News 6 as the board held a meeting on Wednesday. “We had to find out about it late at night on a Friday night.”
Describing the agreement as a subversion of the will of voters, Aungst said the board will “have to deal with it and correct it,” according to the Associated Press.
Ron Peri, another board member, said at the meeting that under the agreement, “this board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure,” according to News 6.
But Taryn Fenske, a DeSantis spokeswoman, countered that legal problems with the agreement could render it void. In comments to the Orlando Sentinel, she described the deal as a last-ditch effort to transfer certain rights and authorities over to Disney.
“An initial review suggests these agreements may have significant legal infirmities that would render the contracts void as a matter of law,” Fenske wrote. “We are pleased the new governor-appointed board retained multiple financial and legal firms to conduct audits and investigate Disney’s past behavior.”
The oversight board was created in 1967 when the state, in coordination with Disney, created a special tax district for the park that had similar powers to a county government in an effort to free the park from some state-level bureaucracy. DeSantis, who has repeatedly criticized Disney since it came out against his education policy, said in his February announcement that he was ending Disney’s “corporate kingdom” and “preferential treatment.”
DeSantis completes state takeover of Disney World district
1:58
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took over a taxing district controlled by Disney on Feb. 27, a possible retaliation to Disney's opposition of the “don’t say gay” law. (Video: Reuters)
So, with a DeSantis-aligned board looming, the previous board granted Disney broad veto powers over any improvements or changes to properties in the park, according to a copy of the agreement published by the Orlando Sentinel. Under the measure, any changes are “subject to [Disney’s] prior review and comment,” so as to “ensure consistency with the overall design and theming” of the park.
The agreement forbids the new board from using Disney’s brand name or any of its trademarks, specifically citing “fanciful characters such as Mickey Mouse.” It also gives the company the right to prior review and comment when the board changes building exteriors, among other strictures.
Through a spokesperson, DeSantis said the governor-appointed board had contracted law firms to challenge the agreement, and suggested certain “legal infirmities” could render it void.
How DeSantis moved against Disney
DeSantis, an ascendant voice in the Republican Party and widely seen as a likely contender for the party’s 2024 presidential nomination, appointed a new oversight board after Disney criticized education legislation he had promoted that prohibited teachers from discussing gender and sexual orientation in early grades. Critics derided the policy as a homophobic and discriminatory “don’t say gay” bill. DeSantis signed it into law last year.ADVERTISING
In apparent retaliation for the critique, DeSantis replaced the previous Disney-friendly oversight board known as the Reedy Creek Improvement District with a new board, the Central Florida Tourism Oversight District, made up entirely of his own appointees, including religious and conservative activists. The board is responsible for approving infrastructure projects, as well as maintaining more mundane aspects of the park, such as trash collection and management of sewer systems. Disney would have been to some degree beholden to DeSantis’s board for its sign-off on major projects, in theory allowing it to hold sway over the company.
How Disney outmaneuvered DeSantis
But in a bureaucratic coup, Disney and the previous board signed an agreement on Feb. 8 — the day before the Florida House passed a bill paving the way for the DeSantis appointees — that transferred much of the board’s power to Disney.The new board, much to its chagrin, apparently discovered the agreement only recently.
“I’m surprised that they didn’t tell us about it as soon as we were appointed,” one of the board members, Brian Aungst Jr., told local station News 6 as the board held a meeting on Wednesday. “We had to find out about it late at night on a Friday night.”
Describing the agreement as a subversion of the will of voters, Aungst said the board will “have to deal with it and correct it,” according to the Associated Press.
Ron Peri, another board member, said at the meeting that under the agreement, “this board loses, for practical purposes, the majority of its ability to do anything beyond maintain the roads and maintain basic infrastructure,” according to News 6.
But Taryn Fenske, a DeSantis spokeswoman, countered that legal problems with the agreement could render it void. In comments to the Orlando Sentinel, she described the deal as a last-ditch effort to transfer certain rights and authorities over to Disney.
“An initial review suggests these agreements may have significant legal infirmities that would render the contracts void as a matter of law,” Fenske wrote. “We are pleased the new governor-appointed board retained multiple financial and legal firms to conduct audits and investigate Disney’s past behavior.”
The oversight board was created in 1967 when the state, in coordination with Disney, created a special tax district for the park that had similar powers to a county government in an effort to free the park from some state-level bureaucracy. DeSantis, who has repeatedly criticized Disney since it came out against his education policy, said in his February announcement that he was ending Disney’s “corporate kingdom” and “preferential treatment.”
DeSantis completes state takeover of Disney World district
1:58
Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis took over a taxing district controlled by Disney on Feb. 27, a possible retaliation to Disney's opposition of the “don’t say gay” law. (Video: Reuters)
So, with a DeSantis-aligned board looming, the previous board granted Disney broad veto powers over any improvements or changes to properties in the park, according to a copy of the agreement published by the Orlando Sentinel. Under the measure, any changes are “subject to [Disney’s] prior review and comment,” so as to “ensure consistency with the overall design and theming” of the park.
